BobbyRobby
Member
Hopefully DQVIII will revitalize things a bit.
Link316 said:
Ozchin said:Game developers and publishers are not tailoring games to entice the average gamer but are continuing to make games that THEY want to play or games that THEY think are cool, which only a shrinking minority of hardcore Japanese gamers will buy.
AniHawk said:Well the blame IS partly Sony's during the DC era. Not that the DC went belly-up and Sega went third-party, but that there was nothing for the system for about 6-12 months, had two controller ports, no online support, and people bought it anyway. Not to mention at the time the DC wasn't actually looking that much worse than the PS2, and that the PS2 was hard to develop for at first. If the GC or Xbox was the leading console (with at least one huge hit game at launch, four controller ports, OL ready [Xbox only of course], easy to develop for, and even better looking than the DC), then you can bet that certain people like myself wouldn't have been as confused as to how the hell the system was taking off like it was.
SolidSnakex said:While what the PS2 had might not have appealed to YOU there were alot of games on it that weren't on the DC. alot of "hardcore" gamers like to ignore. For starters you have the most popular sports franchise in the US, Madden. Never released on the DC. You also had Ridge Racer, Tekken Tag Tournament and ofcourse SSX. So by no means was there nothing on the PS2 from the start, and there also were plenty of games at launch for most gamers. You pointed out in a later post that other systems had really big hitters but the PS2 didn't at launch. But that didn't matter because they had a bunch of "good to great" games lined up at launch. This is the big reason why the PS2 is always leading. Because it has a steady stream of games like that with masterpieces along the way. That's how you win, you can't win with just a big game and nothing else.
I still don't know why people claim that Sony had nothing at launch and people were buying the PS2 solely for its future when that clearly wasn't the case. Alot of PS2 launch titles have sold more than the majotiy of DC titles. And that's because alot of people wanted them. It wasn't like the launch lacked quality, it just lacked a really big hitter which it clealry didn't need.
AniHawk said:I just hope next gen Sony has their system OL out of the box, a "SM64"/"GE007"/"Halo" game, and four fucking controller ports (why they didn't include this in the first place is beyond me). Backwards compatability just wont cut it for me at the get-go if they don't have anything which really stands out.
AniHawk said:And the DC didn't have a nice stream of games coming out either? In addition to their sports lineup, Sega had its own franchises plus exclusive games from Capcom and Namco. If the console makers were switched, I guarantee you that the Sega PS2 would have been seen as a large flaw.
I just hope next gen Sony has their system OL out of the box, a "SM64"/"GE007"/"Halo" game, and four fucking controller ports (why they didn't include this in the first place is beyond me). Backwards compatability just wont cut it for me at the get-go if they don't have anything which really stands out.
evilromero said:It is Sony's fault. But at the same time Nintendo may have mistepped a tiny bit early on and lost the trust of the Japanese market. As a result they turned to Sony, which was pumping out mediocre shit after mediocre shit and to this day people are feeling less inclined to plunk down the doe for more of the same. I don't blame them really (the Japanese market). I feel bad cause Nintendo has now got their full arsenal out and is waving in the corner for attention but the disallusioned Japanese market cares not. Ah, let me end this with: that was my opinion.
Actually, GameCube's on track to outperform N64 in Japan. The difference being relatively consistant sales for GCN while N64 saw the majority of sales upfront in it's huge launch push. Comparing the first 3 years of last gen to this gen is disingenous as the change in market leaders ensured a top heavy performance for both N64 and PS2 compared to PS1 and GCN.sonycowboy said:For those of you that want to blame somebody, blame the Japanese economy, Nintendo, Sega, & Microsoft. You cannot blame Sony.
In 1997, there were only 10 million PSOne's in Japan. For the calendar year, they sold 5 million units.
In 2003, there were 16 million PS2's in Japan. For the calendar year, they sold 3.5 million units.
While, it's true that Sony sold less hardware units in year-to-year comparisons, the installed based is 60% higher. However, Nintendo has tanked as the N64 was a relative success in 1997 as was the Saturn which had tremendous support and the relative installed bases of comparable systems other than Sony's is MUCH lower (N64-> GCN, Saturn -> Xbox).
SolidSnakex said:LOL Nintendo might have misstepped? MIGHT? They've been screwing up all generation. They've got exactly 1 million seller in Japan, and Mario Sunshine is on track to be the lowest selling "main" Mario game ever. You're making a huge understatement to call what Nintendo's done a "misstep". They've caused this, not anyone else.
evilromero said:I don't think the look of a console is any concern in such a debate. Nintendo's problem was coming forward with a difficult system (N64) that wasn't CD-ROM based. Had they gone the Playstation direction with a similar system, things would be vastly different. But now when I think about it, I can't say if it would be for the better. Still Sony allowed far too many ass-releases to come through and hurt the market I believe as a result. I'm not saying Sony's own software is to blame, because really they put out some of the best games on their system.
evilromero said:Still Sony allowed far too many ass-releases to come through and hurt the market I believe as a result. I'm not saying Sony's own software is to blame, because really they put out some of the best games on their system.
DrGAKMAN said:I'm one of the biggest Nintendo nuts on this forum, but I can admit when they've made mistakes this generation. All of their mistakes are mainly image ones, which didn't really bother them 'cos they seemed to not mind what people perceived them as nor did it effect their profits. But this E3, when Reggie said something to the effect that Nintendo is getting rewarded with more marketshare (thus more profits) 'cos Nintendo is giving players what they want, I think Nintendo has awakened to the fact that they need to listen to what people want. Then they show the Zelda that everyone DID want to make that comment hold true. The mistakes are (just off the top of my head) here:
-lame launch ad's
-not enough TV ad's
-Zelda cel shading thing
-no Mario @ launch
-ignoring MS as any sort of threat
-too Japanese focused (it's good, but they need more outreach to the west)
-when a game comes out on PS2 *and* X-BOX but *not* on GAMECUBE it gives the impression that it's a dying system
-very poor possitions at rental & retail
-being often times ignored by the press and thus the mainstream media
-not matching the competition for features
-giving the perception that they are underpowered *and* a kiddy company with their console design
-making purple their focus color for the console
But I believe that Nintendo is and is going to continue to rectify these (mainly image) problems. I think they're going to make a system that LOOKS serious and then they will be taken more seriously next generation. The confidence they all glowed with this E3 was awesome and they backed it up...they're changing their image, it's just hard to do when they're sorta "stuck" with the lil' cube design as a centerpeice of that image until next generation.
AniHawk said:Now only if they could get Yuji Naka to make a great Sonic game in 3D like how the Sonic Adventure 2 levels were, among a Panzer Dragoon "Saga II," NiGHTS II, Shenmue III, Super Monkey Ball 3, a very well done Crazy Taxi, with decent advertising, that company may finally get back on its feet.
evilromero said:It's true the GBA has as much shovelware as the PS2 does, and I wish that were something both companies would try to manage.
evilromero said:And I still think Nintendo's major problems were its lack of releases, first and third party from the first-half of the N64's life. Had they been a little more prepared or able to meet demand they would probably be on equal footing with Sony in the console market.
And yes, far more than the image problem, Nintendo's main mistake was not taking its rivals seriously. That I feel was their most recent and problematic misstep. But they are surely coming around, but just a tad too late. Xbox now has its place ingrained in the US market. Nintendo still has a chance to make their next console a 1st place seller in Japan next time around with Pokemon, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Smash Bros and Mario Party series. If Nintendo represent those franchises successfully right from the start, they may be able to trip up PS3 in Japan and set the pace for the remainder of the lifespan.
Mashing said:After seeing the new Zelda, this is what I think:
It signfies either 1) A sign of a radical change at Nintendo or 2) capitulating to the audience (probably a first for them in a long long time).
I'd say there's a significant difference between NCL's internal software R&D trends and NOA's advertising campaign trends. This really isn't the same as before.SolidSnakex said:I'm not buying into the change that quickly. I remember last gen when alot of people thought Nintendo was changing their image with those Conker and PD ads. Then they started doing their typical ads afterwards. If this happens over the long term i'll believe it.
Isn't that what we're seeing with the new Zelda?SolidSnakex said:I'd still like to see their Japanese studio do a truely adult oriented game. Not something like GTA (although I wouldn't mind that), maybe a realistic racer or something. Just to show that they really are going to start to cater toward both markets.
GameCube games sales aren't in a unique position, PS2 software is also in a slump compared to PS1. The only platform which is seeing healthier overall Japanese software sales than it's predecesor would be GBA, and even there the platform's shining star (Pokemon) seems to have taken a hit.SolidSnakex said:"If they can continue this and land the big 3rd party hitters then they won't have a problem removing Sony from first in Japan."
THat's something easier said than done considering the sales of GC games in Japn.